Concentration of manganese ores



Patented Sept. 12,

' GONOENTRATION or MANGANESE ORES Frank J. Oahu, Chicago, 111.,assigno'r to The Emulsol (lorporation, Chicago, Ill.

' No Drawing. Continuation of application Serial No. 412,005, September23, 1941. This applica- $1011 July 21, 1942, 861131 N0. 451,739

16 Claims.

My invention is concerned with the art of separating mineralconstituentsof ores and is particularly concerned with agglomeration processes forthe separation and recovery of the mineral values of certain types 01'ores, especially manganese dioxide or pyrolusite from manganese orescontaining silica or a siliceous gangue.

I have discovered that certain substances, hereinafter described, havethe property of agglomerating certain minerals, particularly manganesedioxide or pyrolusite, so that the agglomerated material can readily beseparated from the gangue or undesired constituents of the ores. Theagents which accomplish this purpose are hydrophilic colloids of a typewhich have the property of swelling but not dissolving in water andwhich form anon-continuous colloidal aqueousgel. Representative examplesof such materials are gun karaya and gum bengal. Hydrophilic colloidswhich do not have such properties and which, therefore, are unsuitablefor the practice of my invention as, for example, pectin, starch, methylcelluloses, and the. like, may, by certain treatments for the purpose ofaltering their surface modifying properties, be rendered suitable forutilization in accordance with my present invention. I have found thatgum karaya is exceptionally satisfactory and its use, therefore,represents an important, though limited, aspect of my invention. Asimple-test to determine those hydrophilic colloids which aresatisfactory for the practice of my invention may be carried out bytaking 2 grams of 100 +200 Three Kids or similar manganese or other ore,agitating the same in about cc. of water in a test tube and allowing theore to settle out, the height or volume of the settled ore being noted.

'Thereupon 2 or 3 milligrams. of the hydrophilic colloid to be tested,in the form of a 0.1% aque-' ous dispersion, is added to the test tube,shaken, and allowed to settle. If the hydrophilic colloid is one whichis suitable for the practice of my invention, the settled ore will havea materially increased volume, in many cases as much as a l 60% increasein volume or even higher. In accordance with my invention, the ore,particularly a pyrolusite ore of the "Three Kids" typ is wet ground,sized, for example, to ,100 +200 mesh or --48 +80 mesh, made up to asuspension or slurry with water, and the resultand wet-panned on a 48mesh sieve.

manner, in the presence or water, by sieving, clas sifying, or the like.An eflective manner of carrying out the separation is to use an inclinedenamel pan or trough, the ore mass being washed downwardly with a slowstream of water. In this case, the agglomerated manganese particles passdownwardly more rapidly than does the nonagglomerated gangue.

The following examples are illustrative of the practice of my inventionas applied to the treatment of a manganese dioxide or pyrolusite ore,the so-called Three Kids" ore. It will be understood that the examplesare not to be construed as being in any way limitative of the scope ofmy invention. Thus, for example, various changes may be made withrespect to reagent choice, proportions of reagents, selection ofparticular ores and the like, which will be clear to those versed in theart in the light of the guiding principles disclosed herein,

Example I 50 grams ofthe moistore of 48 mesh were made into a slurrywith 15 cc. of water. 10 cc. of a 0.1% gum karaya aqeous dispersion werethen added thereto, the mixture was agitated, and it was then wet-pannedon a 48 mesh sieve 8 .inches in diameter. That which remained on thesieve was denoted as Fraction #1. The material which passed through thesieve was agitated with 5 cc. of the aforesaid gum karaya dispersion andagain wet-panned on a 48 mesh sieve. That which remained on the sievewas denoted as Fraction #2. The material which passedthrough the sievewas agitated with 5 cc. of the gum karaya dispersion and again wetpannedon a 48 mesh sieve. That which remained on the sieve was denoted asFraction #3. The material which passed through the sieve was agitatedwith 5 cc. of the gum karaya dispersion That which remained on the sievewas denoted as Fraction #4 and the material which passed through the ofthe various fractions ia-shown in the table. Combined Fractions #1,- #2,#3 and #4 show a 73.5% recovery of a concentrate analyain 44.0%manganese, the gum karaya eonsummon amounting to about 1.5 lbs. of gumkarasaperto'nofore. r

hours, the cold suspension into two la'vers, a; lower gumagglomerate anda clear serum. The gum agglomerate layer constituted approximately ofthe total volume.- The gum 'karaya suspension utilised-in the aboveexassaoss about 0.70 lbs.

.lhe recovery was about 81.6%.- V

. following tableindicates the analyticalream was-denotedaal'raction sasom of per tonof ore.

colloids will also be variable although, as a'rule,

' amounts offthe order oi','at most. a few pounds per ton More will beutilized. In'general, I, prefer to employ from about 0.8 to aboutv 2.0

.. pounds of gum karaya or the like per ton of manam e and inthefollowing examples was layerofgumglobulea'. v v 1 trample" 3 I 100 gramsof the moist oreof 100 (+200 mesh were made into a slurry with 50 cc; ofwater. cc. of an aqueous dispersion'of gum aforementioned karaya- (0.001gram of gum karaya per cc.) were then added to the ore slurry and thewas agitated; It.!was then wet-panned on an so mesh sieve. That whichremained on the sieve was daignated as Fraction #1 The material whichpassed through the sieve wastreated with 5 cc. of the gum dispersion'andit was again wet-panned on an 80 mesh sieve, that remaining on the sievebeing designated as Fraction #2 and the material which passed throughthe sieve was denoted as'Fraction #3. About 12.0 grams of aconcentrateanalyzing about 43.8% manganese were recovered. the gum karaya consumption amounting to" about 1.55 lbs. per ton of ore. The manganeserecovery was about 68%.

The following table results obtained:

Fraction Grams Mme GramsMa an an ins as 0.2 ms ass at: 1.0:

sec s'u an.

seam lem a a 100 grams of the moist ore -100 +200 m Y were'made into aslurry with cc. of water and there were added thereto. with agitation,20 cc. ofan aqueous dispersion of gum karaya (0.001 gram of gum karayaper cc.). The material was wet-panned'on a l00'mesh sieve, that whichremained. on the sieve being designated as Fraction #1. The materialwhich passed through the sieve was agitated with 5 cc. of the the an yical ganese. ore although this amount may. be varied.

Those skilled in the art will. in the light ofmy teachings, readily beable to adapt my invention to the treatment of particular ores.

It will also be understood that'the hydrophilic colloids which areutilized inaccorda'nce with -my invention may be employed together withone -.or more-already known agents such as collecting agents, depressingagents, emulsifying-agents. dispersing agents, activating agents,deactivat ing agents, inhibitors, and, in-general, organic and inorganicconditioning agents, and the like.

This application is a continuation of my prior :pplication, Serial No.412,005, filed September While the invention has been described-indetail it is to be understood that the scope'thereof is not to belimited the claims.

What I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent oi theUnited States is:

l. A method of concentrating manganese minerals which comprisesagitating a manganese ore, in an aqueous medium, with a small proportionof a hydrophilic colloid having the property of swelling but notdissolving in water and of other than as set forth in forming anon-continuous colloidal aqueous'gel,

. and separatingthe agglomerated particles from the mass. f l 2. Amethod of concentrating manganese minerals which comprises agitating amanganese ore, in an aqueous medium, with a small proportion of gumkaraya, and separating the agglomerated particles from the mass.

3. A method of concentrating manganese minerals which comprisesagitating a manganese ore, in an aqueous medium, with a'srnallproportion of gum beng'al, and separating the ag 1 glomerated particlesfrom the mass.

4. A. method of concentrating 'manganese dioxide which comprisesagitating an aqueous suspension or a manganese. dioxide ore with a gum.karaya dispersion and again wet-panned ona 100 mesh sieve, that whichremained on 16.93 gramsof a concentrate' analysing 40.9%

i .was obtained with a consumption 0! the sieve being designated asFraction #zand which passed through'thesievef being designated asFraction #3. A total of suspension of 'gumkaraya, and separating theagglomerated particles of manganese dioxide 5. A method ,orconcentrating manganese dioxide which comprises agitating an aqueoussuspension ota manganese dioxide ore with an aqueous suspension of gumkaraya, and sepa asl' Grams Peroantlln Granuhin' at 41.: last;-

as an assml 11.:

03.4 sa'i' 20.14

Inthe' rating the agglomerated particles of manganese dioxide from themass.

6. A method of concentrating manganese dioxide which comprises agitatingan aqueous suspension of a manganese dioxide ore with a suspension ofgum bengal, and separating the agglomerated particles of manganesedioxide from the mass.

7. A method of concentrating Dyrolusite which comprises agitating apyrolusite ore, in an aqueous medium, with a small proportion of ahydrophilic colloid having the property of swelling but not dissolvingin water and of forming a noncontinuous colloidal aqueous gel, andseparating the agglomerated pyrolusite particles from the mass.

8. A method of concentrating manganese dioxide present in ores of theThree Kids type which comprises agitating an aqueous suspension of theground ore with an aqueous-suspension containing a small percentage ofgum karaya, the

amount of gum karaya employed being of the order of, at most, a fewpounds per ton of the ore treated, and separating the agglomeratedparticles of manganese dioxide from the mass.

9. A method'of concentrating manganese dioxide present in the Three Kidsmanganese ores which comprises agitating an aqueous suspension of theground ore with an aqueous suspension containing a small percentage ofgum. karaya,

I the amount of gum karaya employed being of the order of, 'at most, afew pounds per ton of the ore treated, and separating the agglomeratedparticles of manganese dioxide from the mass.

10. A method of concentrating manganese dioxide present in the ThreeKids" manganese ores, which comprises agitating an aqueous suspension ofthe ground ore with an aqueous suspension containing a small percentageof gum bengal, the amount of gum bengal employed being of the order of,at most, a few pounds per ton of the ore treated, and separating theagglomerated particles of manganese dioxide from the mass.

11. A method of concentrating manganese dioxide which comprisesagitating an aqueous suspension of a manganese dioxide ore containing asiliceous gangue with an aqueous suspension of a hydrophilic colloidhaving the property of swelling but not dissolving in water and offorming a non-continuous colloidal aqueous gel, the amount of saidcolloid being of the order of, at most, a few pounds per ton of oretreated, and separating the agglomerated particles of manganese dioxidefrom the mass.

12. A method of concentrating manganese dioxide which comprisesagitating an aqueous suspension of a manganese dioxide ore containing asiliceous gangue with an aqueous suspension of gum karaya, the amount ofthe gum karaya being of the order of, at most, a few pounds per ton ofore treated, and separating the agglomerated particles of manganesedioxide from the mass.

13. A method of concentrating manganese dioxide which comprisesagitating an aqueous suspension of a manganese dioxide ore containing asiliceous gangue with an aqueous suspension of gum bengal, the amount ofthe gum bengal being of the order of, at most, a few pounds per ton ofore treated, and separating the agglomerated particles of manganesedioxide fromthe mass.

14. A method of concentrating manganese minerals which comprisesagitating a manganese ore, in an aqueous medium, with a smallproportionof a hydrophilic colloid having the property of swelling but notdissolving in, water and of forming a non-continuous colloidal aqueousgel, and separating the agglomerated particles from the mass by passingthe massfthrough a sieve or screen having openings of such size as willretain of the ground ore with an aqueous suspension containing a smallpercentage of gum karaya, the amount of gum karaya employed being of theorder of, at most, a few pounds per ton of the ore treated, andseparating the agglomerated particles of manganese dioxide from the massby passingthe mass through a sieve or screen having openings of suchsize as will retain the agglomerated particles thereon but will allowthe nonagglomerated particles to pass therethrough.

16. A method of concentrating manganese dioxide which comprisesagitating an aqueous suspension of a manganese dioxide ore containing asiliceous gangue with an aqueous suspension of gum karaya, the amount ofthe gum karaya being of the order of, at most, a few pounds per ton ofore treated, and separating the agglomerated particles of manganesedioxide from the mass by passing the mass through a sieve or screenhaving openings of such size as will retain the agglomerated particlesthereon but will allow the non-agglomerated particles to passtherethrough.

FRANK J. CAHN.

